Circadian
by Nintendian
Summary: It's the invisible ties that bind them and the steel chains that separate them, so close and yet so far away. - Chrom/M!Robin.


**Author's Notes: **I've been wanting to write a Chrom and m!Robin piece forever, because they are like my new favorite pairing and there's not enough of them on this site. This ended up being really reminiscent of my other Chrom/Robin stories though. Sigh...

Anyway, hope you enjoy reading!

* * *

**circadian**

...

He enters the tent to find Robin hunched over the plethora of maps and papers on his desk, his brow furrowed in intense concentration.

It's not the first time this has happened, so the sight doesn't surprise him, really, but Chrom can't have his tactician working himself to death—he doesn't think he could accomplish anything without his meticulousness and diligence. He puts a hand on Robin's shoulder and leans in. "Hey. Get some sleep."

The other man doesn't look up, but Chrom knows that he is smiling.

"I'm serious," he says, hiding a smirk. "Do you want me to carry you all the way to your tent?" At the threat, Robin whirls around in his chair, looking slightly alarmed. They both know that Chrom is more than ready to follow up on his word.

"That won't be necessary," he replies, and gets up from his chair with a ghost of a smile playing over his lips. Chrom follows him out of the tent, yawning and looking forward to the blissful sleep that awaits him at his own tent.

.

It's almost midnight. He leaves the celebration and all its concomitant commotion behind to go lean against a tree and watch the stars. The war is over, they've defeated Gangrel, and yet Chrom has never felt so painfully empty when he reflects upon how much they have lost.

"Chrom?"

Robin cautiously approaches. From here, he looks like only a dark figure from the shadows.

The young Exalt doesn't say anything in response, merely letting out a long, heavy, sigh. He can't seem to forget how gracefully Emmeryn's body hit the ground, how softly. He remembers how the gravel scraped his legs as he fell to his knees before her, thinking that if anyone deserved another life, it would be her.

Robin walks over, and Chrom doesn't know if he could bring himself to talk to anyone right now, even his tactician, his best friend. But the other man simply sits down next to him on the ground, arms rested on his knees. Chrom appreciates his silence; sometimes, he believes Robin is the only one who truly understands him.

They remain side by side, staring at the stars, in a somehow comforting silence.

.

In the morning, he wakes up unsettled.

Lissa, Frederick, and everyone else have been importuning him to choose a queen for days on end, now. But when he imagines the person he would most want to spend the rest of his life with, no one else comes to mind but a certain silver-haired man. He knows it's wrong, but gods, he can't change how he feels.

However much he longs for Robin, he knows it's impossible.

In the end, he finds himself getting down on a knee and presenting the ring to Sumia, the woman he has been closest to since childhood. Her eyes fill with tears and at the same time light up with untrammeled joy, and she throws her arms around him and kisses him.

But he knows he doesn't really love her.

...

...

Chrom's wedding is in two days.

The others have been planning it for weeks, but Robin finds that he doesn't care. This realization more than surprises him, because Chrom is his best friend and he only wants the best for him. He doesn't know what has come over him, except that there is an aching feeling in his chest, like his heart is being constricted too tightly.

He isn't sure of anything, these days.

Robin doesn't know what he feels when he looks at Sumia either, except that the sight of her stirs a dark feeling deep down in the pit of his stomach.

He ignores it, though. He has learned to cast aside most of his emotions from other people anyway. So he just grits his teeth and continues onward, through the pain of every single day that passes.

.

A voice emerges from the darkness, speaking his name.

"Robin."

He doesn't look up as Chrom slides onto the bench next to him, turning his head away to avoid any kind of conversation. He can't bring himself to talk to anyone tonight, the evening before the wedding of the royal couple.

"Hey, what's up? I haven't seen you around for weeks."

The tactician doesn't trust his voice to remain steady if he says more than a few words at a time, so he just shakes his head. "Nothing."

"Tell me, Robin," the other insists, his voice concerned. "I'm pretty sure you've been avoiding me all those weeks, and I know something's wrong."

Of the two, Chrom has always been the one to refuse to let things go. But when the silver-haired man doesn't say anything, his best friend just slides his arm around his shoulders, and they remain that way, silent and still.

Robin squeezes his eyes shut, hard, trusting the darkness of the night to hide his tears.

.

The day of the wedding ceremony, he can't stand it any longer.

He turns and runs from the audience, wanting to escape the chains that lock his feelings deep inside him, never to see the light of day. He longs to be free, but the lock has been clicked shut and the key thrown away.

Besides, he's always been afraid of facing his own emotions.

Robin never intended to cause an uproar, but he feels Chrom's eyes following him. Before he knows it, the blue-haired man is running after him, yelling his name, leaving behind the priest and Sumia and the citizens of Ylisstol. The whole crowd erupts in confusion and Robin hears astonished, outraged, _horrified_ shouts behind him, but that doesn't stop a smile from spreading across his face anyway.

Chrom has never been one to accept things as they are, after all.


End file.
